D came in this morning, took one look at me and hid behind his dad's legs.
"Me don't like teacher!" he stubbornly articulated. Dad looked at me, embarrassment clear on his face while I desperately racked my memory for anything specific I had done that might have provoked this fierce statement. Coming up blank I shrugged my shoulders while dad tried to figure out what to say to his little boy. I let it go and talked to D's brother instead, he was more than happy to say good morning. Not that D's words didn't hurt, I think it was the first time I heard a child say that to me....well it may have happened during a tantrum but I won't count that. But D had had a few difficult days recently with coming into school, so I wasn't too surprised.
I gave D some space, staying just close enough to make sure he wasn't going to follow dad back out the door or anything. While his brother hurried in to hang up his coat and go in to the classroom D sat on the entryway bench, not crying but still pointedly ignoring me. After about 20 minutes, with most the children in the classroom I went back and sat on the bench across from him.
"D would you like to go in and read a book with me? I'll let you pick it out."
"Yeah." And he started to take off his boots.
That was it. He got his shoes, hung up his coat and snow pants and went in to the classroom. Over the course of the morning I read a book with him, introduced a new way to use a material and helped him make a few work choices. I guess he didn't really mind me as much as he had thought that morning.
Sigh, sometimes it's hard to be the 'symbol' that mom or dad is going to leave.
On the opposite end of the spectrum today was Q.
She came in, sought me out for a handshake and eagerly took me up on my offer to practice some sandpaper letters. In fact she was so eager that she just grabbed the first three letters she saw, too impatient to get to a table. Together we traced the letters, and she giggled at every single word I came up with that had that sound in it. Seriously, every single word was hilarious to her.
Then she followed me around the rest of the day. Every time I turned around, there was Q. She didn't bother me, or pester me to work with her, she was just there. She'd come and observe when I worked with other children. She'd stand nearby while I jotted down notes. Every now and then she'd come and put a hand on my shoulder or sit down next to me.
And she was still doing her own work all day. She drew on the chalkboard while I did fetching with another boy nearby. She washed a bunch of windows, changing her location as I walked around the room. I'm not sure what the deal was, but she wanted to be my shadow.
Oh, and she was absolutely ticked when I sat by her at lunch. That just about put her over the top.
So that helped me break even for the day. I'd rather D would be more happy to see me, but you can't win all the time. Hopefully he's in a better mood tomorrow. If not maybe I'll try to have him and Q work together...hmm.....
No comments:
Post a Comment